Caught in a Wonderful Lightning Storm
by Elphaba C. Snow Thropp
Summary: Arizona is peculiar and Callie is interested.
1. No Illusions About You

**Summary: Arizona is peculiar and Callie is interested.**

**AN: I wanted to do things a little differently because Lexie was suddenly intriguing me so I decided to write a Calzona story with a lot of Lexie and Cristina (because bae). This story is primarily Callie/Arizona, but there is a side of Mark/Lexie.**

**Also, this is a little thing I'm working on while I get my other Calzona stories written up. It probably won't be super long or anything. Anyway, enjoy.**

**Caught in a Wonderful Lightning Storm  
Chapter I: No Illusions about You**

* * *

_You can't hide behind social graces  
So don't try to be all touchy feely.  
Cuz you lie in my face of all places,  
But I've got no problem with that, really._

* * *

"What is _that_?"

"What?"

He pointed to their usual lunch table that was unusually occupied.

Callie looked up from her tray and barely stifled a laugh.

"Guys, come on, she's not that bad," Lexie whispered, staring at the woman who was sitting at "their" table. "Let's just go over there."

"No way," Mark shook his head.

"Yeah, she's weird," Callie agreed.

"Have either of you actually ever talked to her?" Lexie asked and sighed when both of them shook their heads. "Well, I have and she's honestly not as weird as everyone thinks."

"But you admit that she _is_ weird," Mark said as if he'd just made some important point.

She rolled her eyes and started for the lunch table. "Come on."

The two Attendings followed the resident to their regular lunch table, stopping when the woman at the table looked up at them, observing them with her stunning cerulean gaze and her ever-present, absentminded, vacant little smile.

"Hi, Dr. Robbins," Lexie greeted tentatively. "Do you mind if we sit with you?"

A blonde head tilted to the side as if she was carefully considering her answer, though she bit her lip and nodded immediately. Watching the newcomers sit down, the woman rolled a carrot over in her hand before taking a small bite. Once everyone was settled, she fixed her stare on the other two Attendings who were now sitting across from her.

"I don't believe we've properly met," she started in a soft, whimsical voice. "I'm Arizona Robbins, Peds surgery."

Callie and Mark exchanged a surreptitious glance before Callie offered a stiff, professional smile. "I'm Callie Torres, I'm in Ortho."

"And this is my boyfriend, Mark Sloan," Lexie nodded at Mark. "He's the head of Plastics."

Arizona smiled politely at Mark, but focused on Callie. "I've heard of you, I think. Calliope is your full name, yes?"

"Yeah, but nobody really calls me that other than my dad," she told her, shifting uncomfortably under the force of the pediatric surgeon's intense gaze.

"You're doing cartilage research?" Arizona inquired.

Callie instantly perked up at the question. "I am, yeah. Why do you ask?"

The smile on her face grew slightly into a grin and she shook her head shyly, shrugging. "I don't, um… I just think that's really," she seemed to sigh her words as a faint hint of color appeared on her cheeks. "Awesome."

"You think cartilage is… awesome?" Callie's brows were furrowed in obvious confusion over the praise of her barely there research.

"I think what you're trying to do with it is awesome," she qualified.

"Oh, well, thank you," the orthopedic surgeon said awkwardly, quickly biting into her sandwich so she didn't have to carry on with this conversation.

Arizona seemed to realize what she was doing and nodded curtly.

An uncomfortable silence reigned over the table after the last exchange and Callie and Mark kept glancing at each other, silently agreeing that the Head of Peds was _weird_ and they were never eating lunch with her ever again. Arizona, on the other hand, rocked back and forth in her seat as her eyes flitted around the now busy cafeteria, and for the first time, Callie noticed that she was sitting with her legs folded and crossed in crisscross applesauce.

"Why is it so quiet over here?" Cristina questioned when she and Meredith came to sit down. Looking around, she saw the person she was sitting next to and blinked. "Oh. Hi."

"Hi, I'm Arizona Robbins, Peds surgery," the blue eyed woman introduced herself, smiling at both women. "Dr. Grey," she nodded toward the elder Grey sister.

"I'm Cristina Yang, cardio resident," the curly haired woman informed her, leaning back warily when Arizona suddenly bounced in her seat.

"You're Dr. Yang? I need— can you… would you…?" Arizona let herself trail off, scrunching her nose up in displeasure at her inability to articulate what she wanted to say. "I have a little boy with aortic stenosis and I wanted to know if you'd assist me on it."

"Of course," she accepted. "Thank you, Dr. Robbins."

Arizona beamed, shocking the table with the presentation of the deep dimples adorning her cheeks. "Awesome. I have everything you need to get familiar with the case up in my office. I was thinking of doing a valve repair, but I want you to read it and tell me what you think."

"Okay. Did you have Dr. Altman look over it?" She wondered.

A blush ran up Arizona's neck, but she didn't break eye contact even when it looked like she wanted to duck her head. "No, I tried, but she kind of, um… ran away."

Callie hid her laughter with a very unconvincing cough.

Cristina shrugged. "She runs away from me, too sometimes."

"I'm glad it's not just me then." Arizona let out a relieved little giggle. "The procedure's in about two hours or so. You can come to my office when you're done eating."

"Okay."

"Can I scrub in?" Lexie asked.

"N— okay, sure." She didn't look very certain of her answer, but didn't try to take it back. Taking a short look down at her phone, she unfolded her legs and stood up. "I have to go. It was nice to meet you all. Dr. Yang and Dr. Grey, I'll see you later."

As a whole, the table's remaining occupants watched her leave.

"Well, that was awkward," Mark was the first to say.

"Oh my god, that was one of the most awkward lunches I've ever had to sit through," Callie burst out next.

"It wasn't―" Lexie began to say.

The Latina interrupted her. "Little Grey, if you say it wasn't that bad―"

"It wasn't," the younger woman insisted loudly, drawing stares from surrounding tables. "Oh, mind your own business," she glared.

"What are you guys talking about?" Meredith queried.

"Dr. Robbins," Mark supplied as if that were a sufficient answer.

"Oh," the dirty blonde nodded her understanding.

"What about her?" Cristina wanted to know. "She seemed okay. Kinda perky though."

"You haven't heard about Dr. Robbins before?" Callie asked in disbelief. There was no way she hadn't heard people talking about Dr. Robbins.

"What? That she's a complete weirdo and a little on the crazy side? Yeah, I heard, but I don't know, she doesn't seem any crazier than the rest of us," the Korean woman said, popping a fry into her mouth. "Besides, Alex works with her all the time and he told me she's a little bizarre, but a fantastic surgeon."

"Whatever. She makes me uncomfortable," Mark declared.

Callie seconded that, but she had to admit she was intrigued by Dr. Robbins' interest in her research.

* * *

Arizona had a happy place she went to when she was in surgery. Most surgeons preferred to be completely in the moment and absorbed in the procedure, and she appreciated that that worked for other people. She just wasn't one of those people. She always made sure she was present when she was operating, but there was an emotional, mental place she had to get to when she was in the operating theatre. She was watching Cristina start to close up the patient when Dr. Teddy Altman stormed into the OR, nearly jarring her from her happy place.

"What do you think you're doing?" The Head of Cardio spit out.

Bright blue eyes widened over her surgical mask and rolled thoughtfully toward the ceiling, then fell on her angry colleague. "Watching Dr. Yang close our patient."

"Why didn't you ask me for a consult?" She demanded.

"I tried, but you ran away from me," Arizona pointed out, not taking her eyes off of the other woman. "If you recall," she drawled sassily.

"I didn't know it was about a patient—"

"You should have assumed it was about a patient," she cut her off, calmly. "Why else would I talk to you? Besides, you were busy and this is a relatively easy procedure, one I was sure Dr. Yang could handle on her own. And I was right. I apologize if you feel like you should have been informed about this, but this is my patient and I don't answer to you."

"Dr. Robbins, I'm almost done," Cristina announced, not looking up from the patient.

"Dr. Grey, take over, please," Arizona instructed softly.

Teddy glared at the pediatric surgeon for a long moment, and then turned around and stormed back out of the OR.

Things were quiet for all of a minute before Lexie said something. "Dr. Robbins, I know it's not really my place—"

"That doesn't seem to be stopping you," the blonde said lazily. "But continue."

"Maybe you could take it easy on Dr. Altman. Her husband just died—"

"Little Grey," Cristina warned.

Lexie didn't glance up from her stitches. "I'm just saying, she's going through a really hard time right now and she's not usually so angry."

"I heard," Arizona murmured. "And I'm empathetic. Losing someone like that is devastating, but that doesn't give her the right to scold me like a child over something so trivial. I'm deeply sorry she's hurting, but she can't take it out on me."

"Of course, Dr. Robbins," Cristina said, shooting a significant look at Lexie.

The young resident finished closing quickly and the three doctors scrubbed out silently.

"Do the charts," Arizona mandated as she was drying her hands. "I have another surgery soon." Without specifying which one she was talking to, she left the scrub room.

"You shouldn't have said anything," Cristina said once she was gone.

Lexie frowned helplessly. "I was just trying to help. I don't want Dr. Robbins to think Dr. Altman is bitch when she's not."

The black haired woman shook her head. "People are going to think what they wanna think, Little Grey. You should already know that."

"I do know that— wait, are you mad at me or something?" What had she done?

"No," Cristina rolled her eyes heavily. "But why do you care what Dr. Robbins thinks of anyone when you think she's a freak of nature?"

"I don't," Lexie denied indignantly. "I don't think she's a freak of nature. I guess I just… got caught up in the gossip, but you have to admit, she is kind of strange."

"So are you," Cristina retorted. "And so am I. And so is everyone."

The doe eyed woman looked at her sister's best friend. "Why do you care what I think of Dr. Robbins?"

"Because you're judging her before you know her," she replied, opening the door to leave the scrub room. "Never judge a book by its cover and all that crap."

xXx

After lunch Callie went straight to her lab and got to work on the components of her artificial cartilage, or "goo" as Mark liked to call it. She worked for about four hours on her research, taking breaks only when she had to use the restroom. It was great to work so long without any interruptions, which she had counted on since Mark and Cristina were in surgery for pretty much the rest of the day. What wasn't great was her lack of decent results on her cartilage. She knew it would take several months at minimum before she had anything to cheer about, but producing a slimy, jello thing time and time again was discouraging.

She was on her fifth hour of work when she heard the door to the lab open and close.

"Hey, did you finally get a break?" She asked without looking up from her microscope, assuming it was Mark. "I thought you had back to back surgeries."

"I finished early."

That was definitely not Mark.

Her head snapped up. "Dr. Robbins, hi. I'm sorry, I thought you were Dr. Sloan." The other woman didn't say anything, just rocked back and forth on her heels. Oh, god, Callie thought, please, she couldn't handle this much awkward twice in one day. "Did you need something?"

Arizona mashed her lips together and furrowed her brows, face tightening in what could have been confusion or exhaustion. Either way, she couldn't find the words she wanted to express so she moved forward and sat in the chair across from where Callie was working, but just slightly off to the side. She pulled her legs up and folded them like she had them at lunch.

"Can I stay here for a little bit?" Her voice was hardly above a whisper.

Callie nodded, despite wanting to say no. "Are you okay?" She queried as she got back to work.

"Hmm," she hummed, grinning impishly when cocoa eyes found hers. People hated when she answered with hums. "How's your research going?"

"It's not," the brunette groaned in frustration. "Going, that is. I've been at this for hours and I keep getting the same result, which is this jelly stuff and definitely not cartilage."

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again," she recited, noting the eye roll she received. "Or you could always change something."

The orthopedic surgeon shook her head. "Nope. This is it. I know I have everything the way it's supposed to be, it's just not working, but it will. I just have to be patient." Her face screwed up on the last word.

Arizona laughed at the expression. "My daughter makes that face when I try to get her to eat bananas. She acts like it's a grievous crime against her rights as an American citizen that she has to eat them."

"You have a daughter?" Callie was genuinely surprised by that. How had she not heard about that yet? "How old is she?"

"She just turned one last month actually," she beamed, startling the other woman with the power and beauty of her smile. Callie didn't think she'd ever seen her smile so widely before.

"What's her name? She's not named after a state, too, is she?"

"I'm not named after the state, actually," she told her primly. "And neither is she. Her name is August."

"That's pretty cute. How'd you think of that?" Callie wondered curiously.

Arizona flashed her a mysterious simper. "That's a story for another time, Dr. Torres."

"Fair enough," she conceded.

"Can I ask you something?" When she received a hesitant nod, she paused as she thought of how to word her question. "You know what, never mind. It's not important."

"Oh, come on," Callie encouraged, mildly astounded that she still wanted to talk to the kid surgeon. "You can't just bring it up and then take it back. You'd really leave me to think about it for the rest of the day?"

Arizona rocked forward in her chair, planting her hands on the tabletop in front of her, and locking eyes with the brunette, effectively stealing Callie's attention from her research. Intent cobalt eyes studied the dark stare of the woman before her, darting from eye to eye, obviously searching for something.

Callie found herself unable to break away from the hold Arizona had over her. Her stomach turned over itself and she slowly pitched forward so that she too was leaning against the lab table. She felt herself trembling and wondered what the hell this woman was doing to her. And why the hell she _liked_ it.

"What?" She ground out between clenched teeth, willing her body to stay the fuck still.

But Arizona didn't answer right away, she just kept staring, idly observing the gradual darkening of rich chocolate irises and the measured dilating of pupils. Reluctantly deciding to leave that alone for now, she took a deep breath and considered her next words carefully.

"You think I'm… peculiar," she stated slowly as if tasting how the sentence sounded as it was coming out of her mouth.

Clearly thrown off and thankful that Arizona's penetrating gaze had eased up, Callie expelled a breath and responded before she could think about what she was saying. "Kind of, yeah. I mean, it's not a bad thing or anything."

Full, pink lips pursed in doubt, but she dismissed whatever she was originally going to say. "Is that what you think then?"

Callie opened her mouth to reply, but stopped herself at the last second. "Is this a trick question?"

"No," she said. "I really would like to know if that's what you think."

"I think," Callie started. "That you like to ask questions that you already know the answer to."

She hummed low in her throat, a soft sound that sent a raging heat through the Latina. Her tongue peaked out to wet her full, pink lips and Callie had to grip the underside of the table to keep herself in check. "That's probably true," the blonde admitted quietly, smiling wryly and humming once again.

Callie desperately need to get away from this woman. "Why are you so interested in my cartilage?"

"Because it's interesting," she said, unaffected by the abrupt subject. "Even though you haven't gotten as far as you'd like just yet. But I've been in here too long; I've got patients to attend to." She uncrossed her legs and slipped out of her seat. "Until next time, Calliope." She didn't wait for a response before she exited the lab.

Releasing the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, Callie sat back in her chair and groaned loudly, deciding that she was done for the day. She went to stand up and froze as soon as she moved.

Her panties were soaked.

* * *

Arizona wasn't stupid and she wasn't oblivious like people liked to believe. In fact, she was very well aware of what people thought of her. They thought she was crazy and weird and just a little too perky, and that was fine with her. Sometimes she even played it up so people would leave her alone because no one wanted to talk to the "weird girl." It kept the interns and residents in line and it kept the other Attendings from starting inane chitchat with her whenever they had to operate together. Even the chief was wary of her.

And she liked it that way.

But Calliope Torres was something else entirely.

She was exceptionally beautiful, that was undeniable, but she did not make a good first impression.

That second impression though…

Calliope was attracted to her. Whether the ortho surgeon realized or not, she couldn't say for sure, and she didn't know what to do with this information. She could either ignore it, confront Calliope about it, or wait to see if Calliope would come to her. While none of those options really appealed to her, she chose to go with option three because from the way Calliope had been looking at her earlier, there was no way she wouldn't figure it out sooner or later.

"Dr. Robbins?" The youngest Grey sister interrupted her thoughts.

"Dr. Grey," she addressed Lexie with a smile and a nod. "Did you need something?"

"Actually, I got you coffee," Lexie handed the senior surgeon the coffee cup she was holding. "And I wanted to tell you that I finished the chart on Noah Stickler, and I checked on all of your post-op patients and updated their charts as well."

"Good. Thank you, but you didn't have to bring me coffee." She was more puzzled than anything. Sure, Lexie didn't treat her like she was from another planet like everyone else did, but she wasn't exactly welcoming either.

"I know, but I wanted to," she said.

"Oh, okay then."

Lexie stood there for an uncomfortable moment or two before smiling and walking away slowly. "I'm done for the night so I'll see you tomorrow?"

Arizona lifted her head in a slow nod. "Okay. See you tomorrow." She watched Lexie walk away long enough to catch a glimpse of a certain orthopedic surgeon duck into a nearby supply closet.

Seeing that, she decided _fuck option three_. Arizona Robbins was more of a take charge kind of woman anyway.

xXx

This was bad. No, this was weird. Really, really weird. She was hot for the perky Peds surgeon? The woman who bounced and wheeled and wore butterflies on her scrub cap? Seriously? What kind of a sick fucking joke?

"This is insane," she muttered under her breath as she hid inside of a supply closet for at least the third time that evening. She was trying to avoid Arizona, still feeling shaken and aroused by their last encounter a few hours ago. It literally hadn't even been a day and she was already avoiding her like the plague.

And she didn't even have hope that it would go away, at least not anytime soon. She couldn't remember the last time someone had made her so wet so quickly. Without even meaning to, for god's sake. There was very little chance of her ignoring her body's reaction to the bubbly woman. She would just have to―

"You need a better hiding spot."

Callie jumped and whipped around to face the owner of the voice that pulled her from her internal ramblings.

"Jeez, Arizona, don't do that. You scared the crap out of me." She placed a hand over her racing heart, positive that she'd just lost ten years of her life.

"Sorry," was all the blonde offered her. She cocked her head to the side as she watched the taller woman.

Callie eyed her uneasily. She could already feel her body heating up and her core clenching in anticipation, and Arizona's visual appraisal was making it much, much worse. "Stop."

Blue eyes blinked slowly. "Stop what?" For the life of her, she couldn't stop the smirk that stretched across her lips.

"Stop staring at me. It's creepy." She tried to sound as put off as possible, but the tremor in her voice wasn't very substantial and that sexy little smirk was wreaking all kinds of havoc on her self control.

Arizona chuckled, and it was a low, rumbling sound that Callie didn't even know the blonde was even capable of making. It also sent a pool of wet heat straight to her center, but she forced herself not to shift and give herself away because she was sure Arizona knew exactly what she was doing. It was both frustrating and sexy, and the fact that she found it sexy made her more frustrated.

Of course Arizona could see what she was doing to the other woman, and despite herself, she found it delightful to make her squirm. She thought that Callie might deny her attraction or ignore it and she had been right, not that she was very surprised. She didn't expect anything to come from this, but that didn't mean shouldn't have a bit of fun with it.

She thought about saying something saucy to throw the woman off, but instead she just: "I'll see you tomorrow, _Dr. Torres._"

She left and Callie was left alone.

Soaking wet.

Once again.

* * *

_And I've got no illusions about you.  
And guess what. I never did.  
When I said, when I said I'll take it  
I meant as is._

* * *

**So there was that. There was originally going to be a kiss in the last scene, but then I was like nope, so it didn't happen. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I don't know when I'll update next, but be on the lookout cuz you never know.**

**Lyrics: As Is by Ani DiFranco**

**Review, per favore.**

**~Elphaba C. Snow Thropp**


	2. Get Closer to Me

**Summary: Arizona is peculiar and Callie is interested.**

**AN: I want to thank everyone who read the first chapter and a special thanks to those who reviewed, faved, and followed. I'm glad you guys are interested in Arizona's backstory because I'm pretty excited to write it.**

**Also, this is a little thing I'm working on while I get my other Calzona stories written up. It probably won't be super long or anything. Anyway, enjoy.**

**Caught in a Wonderful Lightning Storm  
Chapter II: Get Closer to Me**

* * *

_Ecstasy in the air.  
I don't care.  
Can't tell me nothing.  
I'm impaired._

* * *

The first time it happened it didn't even really happen and it was in the bathroom of Joe's bar, and the circumstances surrounding it were probably less than ideal, but that was how it went.

It was a late ending to a long day for Arizona and she was kind of annoyed because she had to send her baby home with a babysitter tonight. That part didn't bother her as much as it used to, but she had hoped that she could at least finish early enough to get home before bedtime. It seemed, however, that luck was not her side as it was nearly nine thirty when she finished her last surgery. Her daughter had long since gone to bed.

And that made her annoyed.

So the plan was to just go straight home, check on her baby, heat something up, and go to bed, but when she walked out of the hospital, she spotted something that caught her eye. A bar. God, she hadn't been out to a bar in such a long, long time, not since before August was born. That was kind of a crazy thought to have. Nearly two years since she'd set foot in a bar.

Crazy.

She promised herself she wouldn't be too long. She wasn't even going to have any alcohol. She just wanted to go inside and just _be there_. She was a grown woman for god's sake and she had a baby sitter. The chances of such an opportunity arising again anytime soon were slim to none so she went. She went to the bar. And it was pretty glorious, she had to admit. It smelled like smoke and greasy food and liquor and _wow she had missed that smell_. For a moment it was like she was back in med school, back before life had happened and she paused to savor it before she walked up to the bar.

"What can I get you?" The bartender asked not long after she'd sat down.

"Oh, um, I'll just have a water," she said.

"You're not drinking tonight?" He inquired as he poured her drink.

"Ah, no. Not tonight. Thank you," she took her drink and handed him a twenty in return.

He handed the twenty back to her. "Water's free."

"I know," she murmured, sliding the twenty back at him.

"A donation?" He chuckled, charmed by this odd lady.

She gave a tiny smile as she brought the glass to her lips. "Of sorts."

"Well, thank you and have a good night," he said as he made his way to the other side of the bar.

She gave him a nod and was alone for no longer than ten seconds before she felt a presence next to her. Keeping her focus on her glass of water, she decided if someone wanted to talk to her, they would be making the effort because she didn't have the patience or the energy to be as accommodating as usual.

"Hi."

Turning her head, she was met with a man who was honestly too pretty to look at right now. "Hi."

"Do you mind if I join you?" Oh, and that smile. That was a beautiful smile.

"Sure." She couldn't bring herself to care enough to say anything else. She was sure he would have her covered there anyway.

"So." And here it comes. "I hope this isn't too forward of me, but I saw you come in and I knew I'd never forgive myself if I didn't come talk to you."

She threw him a bone. "Why's that?" She was half way done with her water and if this was going to be her entertainment for tonight, then so be it.

"Your eyes, actually," he blushed. She arched her eyebrows in question, prompting him to continue. "They captivated me."

"That's sweet of you to say, but I'm actually…" she let her sentence trail off when she saw someone headed toward what she assumed was the restroom. "I have to go to the restroom, excuse me." She left the man and her water and scurried off in the direction of the figure who caught her attention. Following a sign to the women's restroom, she pushed the door open quietly and had to fight the immediate smirk that found her face when she saw Calliope standing at the sinks with her back to her.

"Hey."

The Latina didn't appear startled when she turned around, but her widened eyes and raised eyebrows made it clear that she was surprised. She had been successfully avoiding Arizona for the past week and half, but what she didn't know was that Arizona was letting her get away with it. Until now of course. "Hey. Peds, right?"

Arizona's laugh was nothing short of amused. "So we're doing this then?" When all Callie did was stare blankly, she took a few steps closer, noting how the other woman shifted back. Obviously, Callie was sticking to her idea of feigned ignorance. "I didn't know you liked to play pretend, Calliope."

"Seriously, I don't know what you're talking about," she said, fighting the urge to fidget. The blonde was coming closer and it was making her antsy, among other things.

For whatever reason, Arizona just could not for the life of her stop smiling. It was more of a smirk, really, and it only grew the closer she got to the dark haired woman. She stopped only when she was close enough to touch, should she choose to do so. At the moment though, she was torn between calling Callie out on her attraction and just respecting her desire not to even acknowledge anything had ever happened. Instead, she picked the more fun option and released a playful, light little hum that wasn't enough to start anything, but was just enough to provoke a reaction.

Callie swallowed harshly. "You _really_ need to stop," she nearly growled out the words, her voice low.

"But I _really_ don't want to," Arizona sang in a soft whisper, tapping her left incisor with the tip of her tongue, dimples winking.

The brunette couldn't help but groan out loud. Why was Arizona Robbins so fucking sexy? "What do you want from me?" She bit it out through gritted teeth.

The pediatric surgeon paused for a moment. What did she want? What _did_ she want? Why was she here in this bathroom taunting this woman? She wasn't a sadist, not really. She wasn't even trying to be malicious, that wasn't who she was. She was light and bubbly and perky and people came to her, she didn't go to them. So what was she doing? What did she want? She wanted to go home. To her baby. And to food.

"I'm… I'm sorry―I…" she moved back, away from Callie, trying to clear her head. "I should go."

Before either of them realized what was happening, tan hands had reached out and snatched Arizona's hips in their grasp, thus pulling her much closer to Callie than she'd ever anticipated being. Their bodies were flush against each other and the air that one breathed out the other breathed in, their faces only a hair's width away. Arizona lifted her hands to rest against Callie's chest and Callie's arms wound around the smaller woman's waist.

"Or you could stay." It was hushed and her speech caused her lips to brush up against Arizona's.

The whimper Arizona released was completely against her will and it lit a fire in the base of Callie's spine. "No, I should really go, Calliope."

She took Arizona's bottom lip between her own, drawing another, longer whimper from the blonde. "But maybe you shouldn't," she whispered, reveling in the gasp she received when she nibbled on the blonde's lip.

Heat sizzled just under the surface of Arizona's skin, vibrating and thrumming through her veins in way was more intense than anything she'd ever experienced. The feeling spread all the way up to her scalp, sending a sliver of energy down her back. The shock caused her to pull away, her breathing shallow and rapid, and under her hand, she could feel Callie's elevated heart rate.

She needed… this needed to stop.

"I hope you have a nice night, Dr. Torres," she breathed against plush, kissable lips and when she felt Callie lean in again, she stepped back out of her arms with a lilting grin on her face.

She backed her way out of the bathroom, grinning the whole time, but on the inside, she was buzzing.

Calliope Torres was dangerous.

* * *

The second time it happened, it actually happened. It was two days after the bathroom incident and Arizona should have seen it coming, not that she was sure she would have stopped it if she had. Honestly, her feelings about the whole thing were kind of up in the air.

It was only two o'clock in the afternoon and Arizona was exhausted. That wasn't unusual for a surgeon. She had been paged in at four in the morning, which was, you know, absurd and she would have paged Karev to handle it, but it was a 911 page, all hands on deck. There was a hotel fire and everyone worked for hours as more and more people came in. In the end, Arizona was able to save every kid that ended up on her table, and she thought that deserved a nap, mostly because there wasn't a coffee in the world strong enough to keep her awake any longer. She was practically dead on her feet.

She managed to stumble into an empty on-call room or at least, she thought it was empty. There was someone in one of the two beds and it sounded like they were awake.

"Um, hi," she called out softly. "I'm sorry, I can leave if you like."

A beat of silence and a voice croaked. "Don't bother."

She vaguely recognized that voice. "Dr. Altman?" Her response was a sniffle. "Are you― is everything okay?"

Teddy released a harsh bark of laughter. "Yeah, everything is just… peachy," she bit off bitterly.

"That was sarcasm," Arizona noted, rocking back and forth on her heels. Her hand was still on the door knob because she didn't know if she was going to stay or go. She was _really_ tired.

"Yeah, ya think?" And more sarcasm, how lovely.

"You know it's common for you to be angry and lash out at―"

"So you heard."

Arizona paused and bit her lip. "Yes, I heard, but I'm not going to pity you."

"You're not?"

"No, I'm not. You don't need pity. You probably need someone to talk to, someone who understands." She was going out on a limb here, but she didn't have much of a choice at this point. She had already sat down on the bed next to Dr. Altman.

"Oh, and you do? _You_ understand what I'm going through?"

She decided to ignore the biting tone that accompanied the question. "I might. Your husband, he died last month, right?"

"Yeah."

"And you've been working yourself into exhaustion so you don't have to think about it." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah."

She nodded. Dr. Altman's husband died a little before she had arrived at the hospital and she didn't know much about the circumstances surrounding his death, only that it happened there while Dr. Altman was in surgery. Clasping her hands in her lap, she thought of something to say. Grief may have been her forte, but that didn't mean she liked to talk about it. "That doesn't work forever, you know. The avoiding thing. I mean, you can only avoid for so long until it catches up with you. And then it's like… like it's happening all over again for the first time and you can't breathe and you can't think." She pressed her lips together and glanced over at her coworker, barely able to make out her features in the darkness of the room. "But until it does, I'll just sit here if that's okay."

Dr. Altman didn't say anything for a long, long time.

"Yeah, that's okay."

Arizona didn't know quite how long she stayed with the cardio surgeon, but it must have been a long time because she found herself waking up curled in a ball in the same spot with Dr. Altman still seated next to her.

"I fell asleep," she announced in a hushed whisper. She didn't remember falling asleep.

"Yeah, you did."

"Sorry."

"Don't be."

"How long was I out?"

"Not long. About an hour."

"Huh. Felt shorter."

"That happens."

"Yeah."

"Yeah." There was a beat of silence. "We were thinking about kids."

Arizona sucked in a breath. "That happens."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

Someone's pager went off. "It's mine. Yang needs me." She didn't move for a few seconds. "Call me Teddy."

"Sure," the blue eyed woman nodded.

Teddy shuffled out of the room and not five seconds later the door opened again. It was Calliope.

"Seriously? You're everywhere," the orthopedic surgeon groaned.

"I do believe I was here first," Arizona chuckled bemusedly, her mood steadily lifting. "And this is the first time I've seen you since you kissed me."

"Oh please, that was barely even anything," she rolled her eyes, folding her arms across her chest.

"That wasn't the point of my statement," the blonde said, standing up from the bed. Callie Torres might have been dangerous, but boy, was she fun.

"Then what―?"

"You instigated the barely kiss," she supplied happily, delighting in the irked look she received. "But it has come to my attention that you'd rather we forget about the whole thing, correct?"

"Actually," Callie drawled slowly, crossing the small room to stand in front of her. She may not have been that much taller than Arizona, but she used the few inches she had to peer down into twinkling azure eyes. They were swimming with curiosity, mischief, and something else that made Callie's thighs clench. She reached out a hand, grasped the front of Arizona's scrub top and pulled her against her. Heat settled deeply into her bones and she knew that no matter what, she'd made the right decision. "I was hoping we could continue."

Her voice was husky and smooth and rich, and like a fog, her whisper rolled over Arizona's senses, knocking the breath out of her lungs and releasing a seed of desire that burrowed deep in the pit of her stomach.

"Oh," she sighed, trying and failing to regain hold over her ability not to get caught up in everything that was Calliope Torres. "And what changed your mind?"

The raven haired woman smirked. "You did."

Dark blonde lashes fluttered repeatedly before Arizona was able to properly lock gazes with Callie. Without even thinking about it, she flicked her tongue out to lick her lips as two short, staccato hums left her vocal chords. "I bet I did."

It was hums that did her in, Callie decided as she molded her lips to the blonde's. They were full and soft and fit perfectly against her own and if it weren't for the pounding of her heart, the sound of blood roaring in her ears, and the feel of Arizona's body pressed tightly to hers, she would have had a greater appreciation for the fact. But she couldn't focus on any one thing while she was experiencing a bit of a sensory overload. Her arms wound around the shorter woman's slim waist and the feel of their clothed chests rubbing against each other caused a moan to break from her throat.

Arizona used the opportunity to swallow the sound and smoothly slide her tongue into Callie's all too willing mouth. The moment their tongues touched a spark ignited, an incendiary fire blazing through their veins. The heat was almost too much and all too soon, they had to pull away for the oxygen their lungs required. Callie didn't move far, she could feel puffs of the blonde's breath against her cheek and she couldn't help but swoop in for another, shorter kiss.

This time it was the peds surgeon who pulled back enough to rest her forehead against Callie's. This was unusual territory for her. No woman had evoked such a response from her body in such a long time, she wasn't quite sure what to do with herself. The passion that Calliope had awakened in her was so new and foreign and confusing that she was sorely tempted to stay far, far away from this situation. And she might have if Callie hadn't responded with just as much fervor.

At the moment though she could barely do more than breathe and maintain her constricting hold on the darker woman. She did wonder though, what had really changed Callie's mind? Why was she no longer denying her desires?

"I have to go."

And this time Arizona was left alone and confused, but she wouldn't think about it too much. She was still exhausted from earlier anyway. Lying down on the bed, she felt her body still humming as a result of the kiss and it was Callie's moan in her ears that greeted her once sleep was finally able to take hold.

* * *

The third time it happened was in the scrub room of OR 3 after a surgery. Arizona had just finished a six hour surgery with her resident, Karev and Lexie Grey, who tagged along at the last minute. The surgery was touch and go for a long time and the kid coded twice, but she and Karev kept a handle on everything and the procedure was a success. She had to admit, she was rather impressed with Karev; he was showing a great deal of promise in Peds. She was more than a little excited to have him on her team.

Lexie Grey, however, she wasn't quite sure what to make of her sudden interest in Peds when it was clear she was destined to go into neuro. Over the past several days, ever since she'd brought Arizona that first coffee, she'd been… well, she'd been kind of hovering. And bringing her coffee all the time. It was odd and she didn't know how to feel about it. She'd tried not to notice it and focus on her career and her baby, and yes, okay, also Calliope, but she was very aware and she couldn't not notice it.

But what to do. What to do.

"Dr. Karev, you did really well in there," she said as the three of them were scrubbing out.

"Thanks, dude," he mumbled gruffly.

"Don't call me dude."

"Sorry." He finished rinsing off his hands and began to dry them. "I'll finish the chart. Come get me when you tell the parents?"

She nodded and he walked out.

"Dr. Robbins?"

"Yes, Dr. Grey?"

"Is there anything you need me to do? You have another surgery later. I could prep the patient," the young resident offered, eyes widened hopefully.

"You have a surgery with Shepherd later," Arizona pointed out. "So that won't be necessary, but thank you."

"Oh, okay. Well, I could―"

The door swung open. "Grey, get out. I need to talk to Dr. Robbins."

"Okay," Lexie drew the word out, looking between the two women before slowly exiting the scrub room.

Arizona dried her hands and turned around. "Dr. Torres."

"Dr. Robbins," she said back, lifting a sculpted dark brow and folding her arms across her chest. The movement exposed her muscular forearms and Arizona actually nearly swooned at the sight.

"Was there," she had to close her eyes to regain her train of thought and when she opened them, she was ensnared in Callie's dark, sultry stare and the effect wasn't much different. "Something you needed?"

Plump lips twisted into a smirk. "Yes."

"Well, if you came here to kiss me, you can forget about it," she told her, leaning back against the scrub sink.

"Is that so?" Callie chuckled, stepping forward into Arizona's personal space.

She had a habit of that, the light haired woman was noticing. "Yes. You can't just go around kissing people whenever you―"

"Arizona?" Callie cut her off, sounding vaguely amused.

"Yes?"

She brought her hands up to cup Arizona's cheeks, her coffee-dark gaze sweeping over the features of her face. "Shut up," she whispered before gently pressing their lips together.

Arizona was surprised by the tender nature of the kiss. Callie's incredibly fucking soft lips were caressing hers with the utmost care and sincerity, like she was whispering a poem against her mouth. She was so surprised that she gasped and a tongue barely swiped at her bottom lip before the tip of it danced against hers. It was even more overwhelming than their previous kiss because there was something about Callie's actions that promised more and that left anticipation building under Arizona's skin.

Much too soon, they had to break for air and Callie wasted no time in pinning the smaller woman against the scrub sink. She knocked her foot against the inside of one of the blonde's and when there was enough room, she settled herself between Arizona's legs. And _goddamn_, that felt so fucking perfect, she would've wept if she was one of those people who wept at things.

"Do you want me to stop?" The brunette inquired quietly, bumping her nose with Arizona's. The motion earned her little grin and a shallow dimple so she made a note to do it more often.

Honestly, Arizona should have said yes. Getting involved with a coworker, especially one as intoxicating as Calliope was proving to be was not the wisest thing she could do. In fact, it was the complete opposite of wise. It was fucking stupid. So she should have said yes. "No. Don't stop."

"Thank god," she mumbled in relief before she brought their mouths together in a searing kiss. God, Arizona tasted _so fucking amazing_ and the little moans she was releasing into Callie's mouth were driving her fucking insane with want. One particularly deep moan vibrated against her tongue and arousal whirled in her gut, and of their own accord, her hips rocked forward into Arizona's.

Arizona tore her mouth away from Callie as a deep moan bubbled out of her throat. "Oh, my god."

Spurred on by that response, Callie rocked her hips forward again and instantly became dizzy with how turned on she was. She had never felt so much all at once before and it was incredibly disorienting and exhilarating. "Shit, Arizona." Her breath was warm on the blonde's neck.

Sliding her hands up to the back of Callie's neck, she tangled her fingers in thick, black locks and tugged just a little. The soft hiss she received made her smirk. She figured Callie liked having her hair pulled. "I have surg-ERY― oh, shit, Calliope." Her fucking hips were hitting her clit so fantastically.

"You keep saying my name like that and you'll miss your surgery," the Latina promised because Arizona's breathy exhalation of 'Calliope' just put a puddle in her panties.

"No, I really― I have to go." She really did have to go. Her surgery was super soon, but Callie's marshmallow soft lips on her… fuck, on her collarbone was just too good. _Oh, my god. _"Calliope, we have to stop."

It took willpower Callie wasn't even sure she actually possessed to pull herself away from Arizona. "Fine. We stopped." Her body was already screaming for more.

"Okay." She took a few necessary deep breaths, then opened her eyes to gaze at her fellow surgeon (and kissing buddy?). Molten, black depths swirled with impressive desire and sparked with something dangerous and devilish and exciting. "I have to go." And so fucking terrifying.

"So you said," the orthopedic surgeon smirked, seemingly unfazed by their make out session if not for her heaving chest.

Oh, no. This would not do.

Fixing a small, enigmatic grin on her face, making sure her dimples were present. "You're a really nice kisser, Calliope. I'll see you later."

* * *

_Can't you see?  
Ain't it clear?  
I don't care.  
Get closer to me if you dare._

* * *

**Sorry this chapter took so fucking long. I was finishing my first year of college and then I started summer school and then Orange Is the New Black came back and so I've been busy. Anyway, that was the chapter.**

**Lyrics: Numb by Rihanna ft. Eminem**

**Review, per favore.**

**~Elphaba C. Snow Thropp**


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